Tooth powder and paste dispenser



Nov. 27, 1945. 1 PAGE 2,389,683

TOOTH POWDER AND PASTE DISPENSER Filed Jan. 22, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 miL IN VEN TOR.

Nov. 27, 1945. J. H PAGE 2,389,683

TOOTH POWDER AND PASTE DISPENSER Filed Jan. 22, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR.

Pfff/)6576,

Patent-ed Nov,B 27, 1945 *"UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,389,683 TOOTHPOWDER AND PASTE DISPENSER J ohn H. Page, Muskegon, Mich. l ApplicationJanuary 22, 1944, serial No. 519,250 2 Claims. (ci. 222-126) v Thisinvention relates to improvements in containers particularly adapted fordispensing tooth powder on tooth brushes, although not necessarilylimited to such use. t One of the commonly recognized ditilcult-ies inthe use of tooth powder is that of applying it to the brush withoutspilling. The powder is usually of such character that it does not owfreely through a dispenser opening. but the container usually has to berapped, or the powder agitated in some other manner, and even then whenthe ow is started, the powder tends to rush out suddenly so that much ofit is spilled and wasted.

A method often employed to avoid excessive spillage is to place thebrush immediately below the container opening, but this requires arather difiicult manual operation, involving both hands, especially whenthe container must be rapped or shaken at the same time. Moreover, it isundesirable to permit the wet brush to come into direct contact with thedispenser openings, since this may result in an insanitary condition andcause wet powder to clog the opening.

The principal object of my invention is to overcome the diflicultiesabove suggested, by providing means for positioning the tooth brush inthe desired powder receiving relation, immediately below the dispensingorice, which means is also operatively connected with the orice gate orcover, so that the gate can be readily opened and closed and the powderagitated or shaken in the container without disturbing the predeterminedrelation of the brush to the dispensing orice.

Other Objects and advantages of my invention will appear as thefollowing description proceeds.

The invention may best be understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a powdercontainer constructed in accordance with my invention, with thedispensing closure or gate -shown in part section, and in closedposition;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary detail view of the bottom portion of thecontainer illustrated in Figure 1, but showing the closure or gate inopen position to deposit powder on a tooth brush held in registering,but slightly spaced position thereunder;

Figure 3 is a detail section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a detail view in perspective of the closure and hingedpositioning extension employed in the device shown in the precedingiigures;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary side view showing a. modified form of myinvention as applied to a common form of powder dispensing container,

wherein the latter has an extended neck with an apertured side wall,covered by an apertured cap rotatably mounted thereon;

' Figure 6 is a fragmentary view in part section showing anothermodification of my invention as applied to another form of dispensingcontainer, wherein a plunger is slidably mounted in the top of thecontainer and opened by withdrawing said plunger endwise from thecontainer;

Figure 'l is an end view of the dispensing device shown in Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a view in side elevation of another modied form of myinvention, wherein the closure is opened by rotation rather than slidingmovement of the parts; and

Figure 9 is a detail bottom view of means illustrated in Figure 8.

Referring now to details of the embodiment of my invention shown inFigures 1 to 4 inclusive, a container indicated generally at I0 has adispensing device at one end, consisting of a projecting housing I Igenerally rectangular in transverse section and having a plurality ofspaced discharge orices I2, I2 (two in number) in its end wall I3. Aclosure plate I4 is slidably mounted in juxtaposition with the end wallI3 to close the discharge orices I2, I2, excepting when openings I5, I5in said plate are brought the closure into register with said openingsI2, I2. In the form shown, the closure plate I4 is on the inner side ofthe end wall I3 and has an end portion I6 projecting through a slot I1at one side of the housing II.

A positioning member 20 is connected at one end to the projecting end I6of the closure plate, in the form of container shown in Figures 1 to 4,this connection preferably being formed by a hinge 2i, to permit thepositioning member 20 to be folded up against the adjacent side of thecontainer when the device is not in use, as indicated in dotted lines inFigure 1. The positioning member 20 consists of a strip of metal orsimilar relatively rigid material provided with a flat outer end portion22, adapted to be engaged in registering relation with the under side ofa tooth brush handle 24, as indicated in full lines in Figure l. Theflat outer end portion 22 ls offset from the plane of the closure plateI4 of the dispenser housing II, as by a curved intermediate portion 23,so that when said end portion 22 is held flatwise against the toothbrush handle, s ShOvm, the proximate side of the dispenser housing IIwill be held in spaced relation from the tooth brush head 25.

As a further aid in positioning the tooth brush head in properregistering relation beneath the dispenser housing Il, the outer endportion 22 oi' the positioning member 20 may be provided with a pair ofdownwardly bent wings 26, 25, adapted to nt along the outer sides ofthetooth brush Ahandle so as to hold the tooth brush in longitudinalaugment with the dispenser housing vwhen the device is in use. Moreover,the wings 23, 2l may also be arranged so as -to engage a reducedshoulder portion 21 on the brush handle, as shown in Figure 6, so as toinsure proper endwise positioning of the brush head relative to thedispenser openings.

The use and operation of the device hereinabove described may now bedescribed as follows:

While the dispensing device is not in use, the positioning member isnormally folded up against the side of the container, as shown in dottedlines in Figure 1, and the closure member i4 is in closed position. asshown in the same figure. To prepare for dispensing the powder, thecontainer is inverted, and the positioning member is swung downwardlyinto registering engagement with the tooth brush handle 24, with thewings 26, 26 fitting against the shoulder 21 of the latter. By exertingslight manual pressure upon the flattened portion 22 as by the thumb orfingers, the latter portion will be brought into ilatwise engagementwith the brush handle, so as to bring and maintain the brush head 25 inproper position for receiving the pow- .der from the container, as shownin Figure l.

The closure plate I4 is then opened by means of the positioning member20, as indicated in Figure 2. During the opening movement, the brushhandle and positioning member are preferably grasped manually so as tomove laterally together relative to the container, thus placing thebrush head immediately below the discharge orifices I2, I2, when thelatter are opened, but at the same time maintaining suiiicient verticalspacing between the brush bristles and the dispenser openings to avoidwetting oi' the latter.

It will be further understood that the movement of closure plate I4while opening the discharge orifices will tend to agitate the powder soas to promote flow thereof from the container.

Referring to the modified form of my invention illustrated in Figure 5,the container is of a familiar type of dispenser including an elongatedhollow neck portion 3| with a discharge orifice 32 at one side thereof,said neck portion being enclosed in a cap 33 having a discharge orifice34 adapted to be moved into registering position with Ithe oriiice 32 ofsaid neck by rotation of said cap. With this form of dispensing device,the capA 33 is provided with a positioning member 35, herein formed asan integral extension oi' said cap. Said positioning member has a flatend portion 35, which is disposed in a plane offset from the axis ofrotation of the cap 33, and adapted to be held ilatwise against thehandle of a brush so as to position the head of said brush immediatelyadjacent, but slightly spaced from the discharge orifice 34 of said cap.The arrangement is such that by positioning the brush as aforesaid, withthe discharge orifice 34 facing downwardly as shown in Figure 5, thecontainer 3l can be rotated so that the powder will be deposited withoutfail directly upon the brush head.

In the modified form of my invention illustrated in Figures 6 and 7, thepowder dispenser consists of alhollow plunger 40 which forms ii! stopperfor the container 4| when it is telescoped in the latter, but whenpulled out as shown in Figure 6, the powder is discharged from anorifice 42 at one side of said plunger. With this type of dispenser, apositioning member is provided, similar to that described in connectionvwith the form of dispenser shown in Fisure 5. With the form of deviceshown in Figures 6 and '1. however, the plunger is pulled out of thecontainer with its discharge orifice 42 facing upwardly. 'I'he toothbrush and its handle are applied to the positioning member 35 while thelatter is also in an upright position, in augment with the dischargeorifice 42. Then by inverting the brush and positioning member bodily toVthe discharge position shown in Figures 6 and '7, the powder will bedeposited as before, directly upon the brush head. It will be noted thatinversion oiV the brush and positioning member may be accomplishedeither by rotating the plunger 41|- in its container. or by invertingthe entire assembly as a unit. Y

In the modified form of my invention shown in Figures 8 and 9, thedispensing container 45 is provided with a circular end plate 46, havinga discharge orifice 46a therein. The end plate is covered by a rotatablecap 41 with an opening 48 adapted to register with the orifice 46a. Thecap 41 has a lug 49 at one side thereof, to which a positioning member50 is connected, as by a hinge 5|. In this form of device thepositioning member has a stop 52 adapted to engage the lug 49 so as tolimit the downward swinging movement of said positioning member and thushold the lower surface of the cap 41 in substantially parallel relationwith the top of the brush head when the device is in use, as indicatedin Figure 8. Obviously, this stop means for the hinged positioningmember can also be employed in the form of device shown in Figures 1 to4, if desired.

It will also be noted that the outer end of the positioning member 50consists simply of an elongated piece of substantially the same width asthe brush handle and the depending side wings used with the previouslydescribed forms of positioning members which have been omitted.Nevertheless, each of the several forms of positioning members has anextended bearing surface at its outer end adapted to be held inregistering non-tilting relation with the tooth brush handle when saidhandle and positioning member are grasped together and held either bythe thumb or fingers of the hand. In this manner the tooth brush headcan be supported in the desired material-receiving relation to thedispensing orifice while the closure member is actuated.

Although I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention,it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the exactconstructions shown and described, but that various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a container for dentifrice or the like, having adispensing oriiice and a closure member therefor, a positioning memberhaving hinged connection'with said closure member, including an extendedbearing portion adapted in one position to be folded against the side ofsaid container, and in a second position to be disposed at apredetermined angular relation remote from said dispensing orice, andadapted to be positioned in registering fiatwise engagement with thehandle of a tooth brush so that said bearing against the side of saidcontainer, and in a second position to be extended in a plane generallyparallel to said slidable closure member but remote therefrom so thatsaid bearing portion may be grasped by the hand in registering iatwiseengagement with a handle of a tooth brush to support the head of saidbrush in a predetermined material-receiving relation with saiddispensing orice, while actuating the latter by the hand 10 which isalso grasping the brush handle.

JOHN H. PAGE.

